Safety razor



Feb. 12, 1935. JOHNSTON 1,991,097

SAFETY RAZOR Filed Jan. 18, 1932 .j'nvenfor H A. Jobhsron Patented Feb.12, 1935 UNITED STATES SAFETY RAZOR Howard ddison Johnston, Toronto,Ontario,

. Canada Application January 18, 1932, Serial No. 587,238

This invention relates to safety ra s and more particularly to that typein whichvtlie balde is flexed transversely between two cl ping membersand my object is to provide a azor of this type in which the partsthereof m y be readily exposed for cleaning purposes withoutdisconnecting them thereby facilitating the conditioning for use of theparts after they have been cleaned. Other objects I have in mind willhereinafter appear.

I attain my object by hinging a blade holder on the pintle of a hingeconnection between the clamping members which comprise a base plate anda cover plate. One end of the blade is removably carried on the holderand the plates are recessed to provide clearance for the holder so thatthe plates will contact with the blade throughout its length. Means areprovided for ensuring the separation of the blade from each of theplates during the opening of the latter so that both sides of each partmay be readily reached for cleaning purposes.

The constructions are hereinafter more fully described and areillustrated in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a plan viewof my razor;

Fig. 2 a longitudinal section thereof.

Fig. 3 a side elevation showing the razor opened;

Fig. 4 a plan view of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 an enlarged detail in plan of the blade holder showing its hingedconnection with the base plate and showing part of a blade;

9 Fig. 6 an enlarged sectional detail in the line 6-6 in Fig. 5;

Fig. '7 an enlarged sectional detail on the line 'l7 in Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 a plan view of a strip of material from which the blades arepunched; and Fig. 9 a cross section of the base plate showing the holderand blade therein in their positions when the razor is opened.

In the drawing like numerals of reference indicate corresponding partsin the diflferent figures.

The razor comprises a handle 1 which is attached to a base plate 2 onwhich is hinged a cover plate 3. A blade 4 is carried by a holder 5which is hingedly mounted on the pintle of the first mentioned hinge tolie between the plates 2 and 3. The double hinge connection comprises apintle 6 carried by spaced lugs 2 on the base plate 2. The holder 5 isprovided with two bent up hearing flanges 5' which are disposed on thepintle between the lugs 2, and the cover plate is provided with a hingeknuckle 3* also disposed on 55 the pintle between the bearing flanges5'.

Preferably the holder is made from sheet metal which is cut and stampedto the desired shape. To materially strengthen the holder adjacent theflanges 5 I extend the metal between them beyond the ends thereof toform a tongue 5' which is bent back on the body of the holder to liebetween the said flanges.

To ensure the blade holder 5 and thus the blade 4 carried thereby beingmoved away from the base plate 2 when the razor is opened as shown inFigs. 3 and 6, I provide the hinge knuckle 3" with a projection 3adapted to engage and swing the holder with it when the cover plate 3has been swung a predetermined distance away from the base plate. Theswinging movement of the holder 5 is limited by providing its flanges 5'with projections 5" adapted to engage a shoulder 2 formed betweenthelugs 2 on the base plate 2. From this description it is obvious thatif the blade should adhere to the cover plate 3 while the latter ismoving to its open position the projections 5'' will engage the shoulder2 to stop the swinging movement of the holder whereby the movement ofthe cover plate will continue until its projection 3 engages the holder.If the blade 25 should adhere to the base plate 2 while the cover plateis moving to its open position the projection 3 will engage the holder,after the plate 3 has been moved a predetermined distance, to carry theholder along with the said plateuntil the projections 5 engage theshoulder 2 Of course, the projections 5 will be engaged by the shoulder2 to move the holder 5 away from the cover plate 3 if the base plate 2be swung relative to the latter. Thus the blade 4 will be moved clear ofboth plates whichever plate is moved relative to the other.

To prevent the projections from being damaged if the plates areseparated forcibly, I provide the hinge knuckle 3 with a projection 3which is also adapted to engage the shoulder 2 to limit the separationof the plates 2 and 3.

Referring to Fig. 8 it will be noted that one end of the blade isprovided with a tang 4 and the other end with a recess 4. The tang onone blade and the recess in the adjacent blade are simultaneously formedby punching a knockout portion 4 in the strip. It will also be notedthat the ends of one blade abut those of the adjacent blades which isaccomplished by forming lines of weakness in the portion of the stripadjacent its edges and intermediate the transverse edges of the knockoutportions. That is to say the knockout portions are formed between thelines of weakness and extend on opposite sides thereof lengthwise of thestrip. With this arrangement the knockout portions do not extend to thelongitudinal edges of the strip which edges are thus continuousi Thetang 4 is formed by recessing one end of the blade between each of itsedges and the central portion thereof. Fingers 5 formed on the holder 5are bent over the blade engaging surface thereof to form a socketadapted to receive the tang. -The end of the latter is provided with anotch 4' adapted to engage an abutment such as the bearing flanges 5" onthe holder 5. The blade is normally held in the socket 5 and against theabutment 5 by lugs 5 which are formed in any suitable manner on theblade engaging surface of the holder for engagement with notches 4formed in the sides of the tang. In addition to these lugs 5', theholder may be provided with a raised projection 5 for engagement withthe sides of an opening formed in the blade. From this description itfollows that the blade may be removed from the holder by springing theblade to clear the projection 5 and lugs 5 and then by withdrawing itfrom the socket 5.

The other end of the blade is centered by contact points '7 carried byone of the plates 2 or 3 and adapted to be received in holes 7 formed inthe other plate. These points engage shoulders 4 formed by the edges ofthe recess 4* and the points are tapered to facilitate the engagement ofthe shoulders with the points. By providing another point '7intermediate the ends of the plates 2 or 3 for engagement with anopening in the blade, the latter is centered for engagement with thepoints 7. As the blade first engages the point 7 a progressiveregistration of the points and blade is obtained during the closingmovement of the razor.

The blade engaging face of the cover plate 3 is concaved transverselythereof and the adjacent face of the base plate 2 is correspondinglyshaped to flex a blade clamped between the plates. The plates 2 and 3are provided with grooves 2 and a recess 3 to provide clearance for thefingers 5 and the body of the holder 5 respectively.

A latch 8 pivoted at 9 on the cover plate 3 is provided with a cam face8- adapted to be sprung into engagement with the underside of the baseplate 1 to frictionally lock the parts in position for use.. Referringto Figs. 2 and 4 it will be noted that the plates 2 and 3 are recessedto correspond to the recess 4 in the blade which recesses are adapted toreceive the latch 8 whereby it will not project beyond the end of theplates. The center of the pivot 9 is offset inwardly relative to theinner edge of the recess in the base plate so that the distance betweenthe corner of this edge of the recess and the center of the pivot isgreater than the distance between the said center and the underside ofthe base plate on an imaginary line passing through the center at rightangles to the underside. Therefore when the latch is sprung into itslooking position any tendency of the latch to move off the underside ofthe base plate will be resisted. I

The handle 1 lies in a plane passing through the longitudinal centerline of the base plate 2 and perpendicular to it but is inclined at anangle of more than 90 to the said center line away from that end of thebase plate with which the latch 8 engages. To obtain the best results ithas been found in practice that this angle should be 120 and thereforethe cutting edges of the blade lie at an angle of 60 to the center lineof the handle. Preferably the handle is connected to the base plate 2 ata point slightly closer to the hinged end thereof than to the latchedend.

From this description it is obvious that the razor may be readily openedfor cleansing purposes without removing any of the parts and may bereadily closed for use without gathering up or handling the individualparts. By opening the clamping plates 2 and 3 and flexing the bladeintermediate its ends it may be released from the lugs 53 and projection5 and thus be removed from its holder and a new blade inserted therein.

I provide each blade with a plurality of centrally located openings 4 Inaddition to this row of centrally located openings 4 I punch another rowof openings 4 between the first row and each edge of the blade andarrange the openings so that the distance between any two adjacentopenings is substantially equal. This arrangement prevents distortion ofthe blade during the hardening thereof and the rows of openings 4facilitate the flexing of the blade adjacent the edges thereof and thehandling of the blade while' it is being inserted in or removed from theholder 5.

In Fig. 8 the punching operation has been completed to form a blade atthe end of the strip of blade stock. It will be noted that the cut outportions on opposite sides of the tang 4 and. the inwardly directednotches 4 reduce the area of the blade stock at the base of the tangwhich permits the remainder of the blade to flex relative to the tang.Thus the flexibility of the blade adjacent its edges is not affected bythe flexibility of the holder 5 in which the tang is carried.

To ensure an even contact beiwveen the cover plate 3 and the bladethroughout the length of the latter, the said plate is slightly convexedlongitudinally thereof so that as the latch 8 is engaged with the baseplate the plate will be straightened out to bring its ends into contactwith the blade. Lugs 3 formed at the corners of the plate 3 are adaptedto overlie the corners of the blade 4 to prevent the latter from cuttingor scratching the face while it is being shaved.

The base plate 2 is formed of rolled stock which is channel or U-shapedat 2 intermediate its guards 2 In other words this U-shaped portionextends lengthwise of the strip of metal and substantially centrallythereof as shown in Fig. 9 so that by cutting back from the guards tothe vertical legs of the U and by cutting the horizontal leg of the Ubetween the vertical legs thereof, the lugs 2 and the shoulder 2 may bereadily formed. During the rolling process the grooves 2 at oppositesides of the channel 2 are formed.

This channel receives the contact pin '7 the rivetted over end of thehandle l which is rivetted to'the horizontal leg of the channel and alsothe bearing flanges 5 of the holder 5 to prevent lateral displacement ofthe hinged end thereof when the razor is closed (see Fig. 2).

While the guards 2 are shown as being formed of a plurality of teeth anyother well known type of guard may be employed.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a safety razor the combination of a base plate; a cover plate; ahinge connection between the said plates at right angles to thelongitudinal center line thereof: a blade holder pivotally mounted onsaid hinge connection; means for moving the holder relative to the baseplate when the cover plate is moved to open position; means for limitingthe movement of the holder relative to the base plate when the coverplate has moved a predetermined distance away from the base plate; andstop means carried by the cover and base plates for limiting themovement of one plate relative to the other plate.

2. In a safety razor the combination of a base plate; a cover plate; ablade holder adapted to carry a double edged razor blade; a hinge pincarried by the base plate at right angles to the longitudinal centerline thereof; and hinge knuckles carried by the cover plate and theblade holder pivotally mounted on said pin, the cover plate hingeknuckle having a projection for engaging the blade holder to move itaway from the base plate when the cover plate has been swung apredetermined distance, and having a projection adapted to engage thebase plate to limit the movement of the cover plate relative to the baseplate.

3. In a safety razor the combination of a base plate; a cover plate; ablade holder adapted to carry a double edged razor blade; a hinge pincarried bythe base plate at right angles to-the longitudinal center linethereof; hinge knuckles carried by the cover plate and the blade holderpivotally mounted on said pin, the cover plate hinge knuckle having aprojection for engaging the blade holder to move it away from the baseplate when the cover plate has been swung a predetermined distance, theblade holder hinge knuckle having a projection for eng n a part of thebase plate to limit the swinging movement of the blade holder relativeto the base plate; and a projection carried by the cover plate forengagement with the base plate to limit the movement of one platerelative to the other plate.

4. In a razor, a base plate formed with a channel shaped central portionand a guard extending from the top of the channel wall at each side, theside walls of the channel extending beyond the bottom of the channel andthe guards at one end to form bearing lugs; and a blade holder havingbearing flanges hinged on said lugs, the

said flanges being adapted to be snugly received between the said sidewalls of the channel.

HOWARD ADDISON JOHNSTON.

